Lich

Lich

The Dire

18 + 1.55 15 + 2 18 + 3.25

Level 1 16 25 Hit Points 492 967 1575 Mana 234 884 1508 Damage 42-51 92-101 140-149 Armor 1.1 5.58 10.62 Attacks / Second 0.67 0.86 1.07

Movement Speed 315 Sight Range 1800/800 Attack Range 550 Missile Speed 900 Attack Duration 0.46+0.54 Cast Duration 0.4+1.1 Base Attack Time 1.7

Lich is a ranged Intelligence Hero that uses his skills to slow his enemies down with his ice-based attacks, as well as giving a boost to ally defenses, and serves as a great teamfight Ganker with his powerful ultimate. He can use Sacrifice to easily deny creeps and keep his mana high, making him very good at harassing in the early stages of the game. While a relatively frail hero and mostly known as a Support, he is prove to be a force to be reckoned and mighty foe to stand with as he can render the attempts of multiple enemies futile with his Ultimate, Chain Frost. Lich is a powerful crowd controller and can easily turn a teamfight, or dominate in a lane. Lich is recommended for beginners.

Bio

Ethreain, the Lich "Feel death's cold embrace." Role: Support / Lane Support / Nuker Lore: In life, the frost-mage Ethreain (not yet a Lich) had used the threat of destructive ice to enslave entire kingdoms. His subjects, aided by a few desperate magicians, eventually grew bold enough to ambush him. Armed with enough charmed rope to bind him forever, they tied the frost mage to adamant weights and dropped him in a pool known chiefly for being bottomless. It wasn't. He only fell for a year or so before an outcrop snagged him. There he rested, dead but undecaying, until the geomancer Anhil thought to verify the legend of the supposedly bottomless Black Pool. Anhil's plumbline snarled with the ropes that bound the drowned magician, and up he hauled an unexpected prize. Thinking that by rendering the dead undead, he could question the Lich about the properties of the pool, he removed the bindings and commenced a simple rite of resurrection. Even the descendants of Ethreain's enemies were long forgotten by time, so there were none to warn Anhil against imprudence. But he learned the error of his judgment almost immediately, as Lich threw off the shackles and consumed him. Voice: Responses

Abilities

Frost Blast Q V Ability Affects Damage Target Unit Enemies Magical Blasts the target enemy unit with damaging frost, dealing area damage and slowing movement and attack rates for 4 seconds. The primary target takes the most damage. Range: 600 Radius: 200 Slow Duration: 4 Initial Target Damage: 50/100/150/200 Area Damage: 75/100/125/150 Movement Speed Slow: 30% Attack Speed Slow: 20% 9.25/9.25/9.25/8 125/150/170/190 Only blocked if primary target. Frost-mage Ethreain has not forgotten even the simplest of ice manipulation.

Ice Armor W F Ability Affects Auto-Cast Allies Creates a shield around the target friendly unit, which adds armor and slows attacking melee units. Lasts 40 seconds. Range: 800 Duration: 40 Armor Bonus: 3/5/7/9 Movement Speed Slow: 30% Attack Speed Slow: 20% 5 50 Originally crafted during his ambush for self-defense, the Lich is capable of enchanting others with a formidable defense of frost magic.

Notes: If autocast is activated, Lich will cast this spell on nearby allied heroes who are attacked.

Sacrifice E D Ability Affects Active Allies Sacrifices a friendly creep and converts its current HP into mana for Lich. Range: 400 Current Health Converted: 15%/30%/45%/60% 35/30/25/20 25 It was not unheard of Ethreain to make examples out of those who contested his rule during his human life.

Notes: Enemy heroes get no experience from creeps killed with Sacrifice.

Chain Frost R C Ability Affects Damage Target Unit Enemies Magical Releases an orb of frost that bounces up to 7 times, slowing and damaging enemy units. The first target is mini-stunned. Range: 750 (850*) Bounce Distance: 575 Damage: 280/370/460 (370/460/550*) Movement Speed Slow: 30% Attack Speed Slow: 20% 145/115/60 200/325/500 Will still mini-stun and bounce. Only blocked if primary target. Will still bounce regardless. Increases damage and casting range. Almost universally considered the ultimate in frost magic, Ethreain's orb of frozen death strikes fear into those who dare stand against him.

Notes: There is a 0.2 second delay between bounces

Recommended Items

Explanation: Phase Boots can be replaced with Tranquil Boots if you are having trouble in your lane, also allows you to stay at max health through the the laning stage and perform ganks even if you are not mid. It is also viable if you are baby sitting a carry like Riki or Anti-Mage to go Headdress first so that they get bonus Regen and can stay in the lane longer.

Tips

• Spamming Frost Blast and Sacrifice early game can be extremely effective by harassing and denying efficiently.
• An effective strategy is to take Sacrifice immediately. Even though you won't need the mana earned from it, you can deny a creep immediately to prevent the enemy from earning experience and to pull the lane towards your tower.
• A Refresher Orb is a great item to purchase as it allows him to cast his Chain Frost twice in a battle, coupled up with Aghanim's Scepter and Veil of Discord, Lich can be one of the most destructive damage dealer in team fights.
• Despite primarily being a support hero, Lich can play a very effective mid. Combining his powerful Frost Blast to harass the enemy while denying his own creeps can shut down the enemy's laning phase.
• Ice Armor is a very cheap yet effective ability. Cast it on nearby allies to keep their armor up, or yourself to increase your own survival.
• Keep in mind that Ice Armor can be set to auto-cast, automatically casting it on heroes that are being attacked.
• Chain Frost can be one of the most devastating ultimates in the game, and can easily turn a teamfight in your favor when used properly. Each time it hits, it deals very high magic damage and bounces to another random enemy unless there are no targets nearby. Use it to deal damage quickly to clustered Heroes.
• One of the biggest disadvantage of Chain Frost is its slow movement speed. This gives time for enemies to split apart preventing chain frost from bouncing. You can however, work with heroes like Dark Seer's Vacuum, Faceless void's Chronosphere or Enigma's Black Hole which locks heroes in place taking the full damage from Chain Frost for an extremely devastating damage.
• Heroes like Queen of Pain, Krobelus or Tiny is able to clear creep waves quickly allowing Chain Frost to deal its full damage to heroes.
• When casting Chain Frost on a lone Hero (targeting the hero with chain frost) with 5 creeps, there is approximately ~55% chance of it hitting a hero twice, and ~65% of it hitting a hero twice with 3 creeps. This almost assures a kill on most lone heroes provided the enemy has no escape mechanism with 3 creeps at early levels. Be sure to follow up with a Frost Blast to slow them from escaping Chain Frost range.

Trivia

• Lich's voice actor, Gary Schwartz, also voiced the Heavy and Demoman classes in Team Fortress 2, another title by Valve. Lich's lines, "UM NUM NUM" refer to a line said by the Heavy class in Team Fortress 2: the first is an alternate to "OM NOM NOM", used when the Sandvich Edible Device is consumed.
• In the transition from DotA to Dota 2, three of Lich's skills have had their name changed. Frost Blast used to be called Frost Nova, Ice Armor used to be called Frost Armor and Sacrifice used to be called Dark Ritual.
• Lich's original name was Kel'Thuzad, a reference to the character from the Warcraft universe.

Update History

February 17, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Chain Frost having a chance to end prematurely near fog of war edges.
• Fixed a recent bug where chainfrost wouldn't choose a magic immune target to bounce to.
• Fixed Chain Frost deciding late as to which unit it will bounce to next (it would decide after its bounce delay, instead of before)

January 12, 2012 Patch

• Added a 0.2 second buffer time between Chain Frost bounces.

October 06, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Lich's Dark Ritual being usable on couriers.
• Added a new custom effect for Lich's Frost Armor.
• Lich's Chain Frost is now more visible.

September 29, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Dark Ritual not being castable on some units.

September 09, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Frost Armor affecting Magic Immune attackers.

July 22, 2011 Patch

• Dark Ritual can no longer target summoned units.

July 01, 2011 Patch

• Adjusted Chainfrost bounce speed.
• Units sacrificed via Dark Ritual won't give deny XP to enemies.
• Dark Ritual now displays mana restored.

June 02, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Chain Frost and Paralyzing Cask such that they now bounce correctly when their target unit dies/dodges.

May 26, 2011 Patch

• Added projectile vision to Windrunner's Powershot and Lich's Chain Frost.

May 20, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Chain Frost stopping immediatly once it finds a magic immune unit.

April 09, 2011 Patch

• New model for Lich, who is re-enabled!

March 12, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Chain Frost initial cast being unable to target magic immune (ministun still works on them).
• Fixed Chain Frost bounces slowing all magic immune.

March 03, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Lich not playing his attack sound.

February 19, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Chain Frost hitting couriers.

February 12, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Frost Armor to only autocast on heroes.

February 01, 2011 Patch

• Added shield icon for Lich's Frost Armor

December 17, 2010 Patch

• Frost Nova not applying the slow debuff to the target.
• Frost Armor proccing on ranged attacks.

Ability Change Log

6.72

• Dark Ritual cooldown rescaled from 30/27/24/21 to 35/30/25/20.

6.70

• Dark Ritual cooldown reduced from 55/50/45/40 to 30/27/24/21.
• Frost Armor manacost increased from 25 to 50.
• Frost Armor armor reduced from 3/6/9/12 to 3/5/7/9.
• Frost Nova primary target damage increased from 50/100/125/175 to 50/100/150/200.

See also

• Lich responses